The Red House, Cambridge

 Wanting to come home after a vacation doesn’t mean you don’t like vacation, it just means you like your life.

I was thrilled to get off the plane, see my friends, and go to dinner with Joey at The Red House in Harvard Square. It was a red house (gasp) tucked back in the alley next to Tommy Doyle’s. I don’t know how I’ve never noticed it before. Possibly because when I’m leaving Tommy Doyle’s I’m not normally in a state to do much noticing…

Anyways, we walked in and the first thing I saw was a fat tank of lobsters. While I had vowed to not order seafood after a week on the cruise where fish appeared at every meal, the lobster tank changed my mind. I looked deep into their beady little eyes and thought, I will be responsible for ending your life.

We started with the cocktails, a dark and stormy for my dark and stormy guy, and a perfect pear for a…perfect pear? I ordered the Harvard beet salad for an appetizer. I prefer to eat my root vegetables  after they’ve completed an Ivy League education, so this salad was ideal. Joey was adventurous and went with the sweet potato and apple torte with chives and crème fraiche. This could have easily been a dessert. It was like a savory pie and reminded me of Thanksgiving.

For an entrée, I ordered my crustacean in pasta form, lobster carbonara, with eggs, bacon, and parmesan. The Red House offers two sizes for many of their entrees, so you can get the smaller size if you’re ordering an appetizer and pay less/eat less of a rich dish. 

For dessert Joey ordered the key lime pie, and I had my first ever bite of said pie. It was creamy with just enough tang, and the crust was nice and thick. (I personally like the crust to filling ratio in pie to be very crust heavy.) This was the only picture I took of the meal. Somehow, despite sitting there for over two hours I only thought to take a picture of a sad, lonely, half-eaten slice of pie. Shame. I’ll have to go back.

The Red House
98 Winthrop Street
Cambridge, MA